The Konoha Youth Orchestra
by Hurri
Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Hyuuga Neji.
1. Audition

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Hyuuga Neji.**_

**Chapter 1 - Audition**

The Youth Orchestra had been her mum's idea. Tenten was unsure whether it was a _good_ idea or not, but there she was, with a violin case in hand, standing outside the Konoha Academy where the auditions for the Konoha Youth Orchestra. She and her mum had only recently moved, and it was the summer holidays, so Tenten hadn't been to the school yet.

"This is it," her mum had said when they moved. "The place we've been waiting for." She said this every time they moved to a new place, and Seika got a new job. Tenten, although she loved her mother, had stopped believing her. She said nothing, though, so as to avoid hurting her feelings. Konoha was nice, she mused. But she knew they weren't going to stay. They never did.

That was why she wasn't sure about the orchestra. Joining an orchestra required dedication and loyalty. She used to be part of one before her dad left them and they started to move, and that's what it had taught her. It wouldn't exactly be a demonstration of dedication or loyalty if she suddenly moved away, leaving the orchestra after only half a year. But Seika had been quite sure that joining the KYO was a good idea.

Tenten was late. The auditions were supposed to have stopped fifteen minutes ago, but she went inside anyway. She knew her mum wanted Tenten to feel at ease in Konoha – to fit in and make friends. It would only make her mum worry about her if she didn't join. That, and she itched to play her violin. She practiced every day, of course, but it wasn't the same as playing in an orchestra.

There was no one at reception. Not surprising really, considering that it was the summer holidays. But it also meant no one to ask for directions.

"I'm guessing you're here for the auditions," said a voice coming from over towards her right. Tenten turned, and saw a boy around her age leaning against a wall. He had long, dark brown hair and startling pale violet eyes, and was one of the handsomest guys she'd ever seen. She wasn't sure if he was a musician or not, as he carried no instrument that she could see.

"I am. Do you know where they are?" she asked, forcing herself not to allow those pale eyes put her into a trance.

"Down that corridor, violin auditions are the third door on your right," he said pointing.

"Thank you. I'm Tenten, by the way."

"I'm Neji. Good luck. But you'd better hurry," he replied, giving her a half-smile. He didn't seem like the type who made huge cheesy grins, but when he smiled, it brightened his whole face.

She went down the corridor he'd pointed to, and as she got closer and closer to the violin audition room, she heard shouting.

"Shut up! I am the best musician in the world – or at least I will be! Why won't you acknowledge how great I am?!

A little boy was standing in the doorway, clearly trying to get back inside but someone was pushing him out.

"Please, Konohamaru-kun..." said a tired female voice from inside the room. "You just don't have what it takes. Try again in a few years."

"No! One day I'll be _conductor_ of this orchestra! Then you'll see!"

"Kid. Get out," said the man blocking the doorway. Tenten gasped when she saw him. He was a big man and wore a long coat, but it was his face that caught her attention. He had huge scars all over it, as if someone had cut him with a knife there. He was wearing a bandana, and she wondered if the scars extended all the way onto the top of his head.

Konohamaru cursed (using swear words which Tenten was surprised a boy of his age knew) and stormed off, carrying a half-size violin case with him. Part of Tenten felt sorry for him, but she knew that if someone as young and immature as him was allowed in, she would have less respect for the KYO.

"Excuse me," she said slowly, as the scarred man's attention drifted onto her. She wasn't normally shy or nervous, but the man's appearance was so terrifying she couldn't help it. She tried not to stare at his scars. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm here to audition..."

"Come in," said a different female voice from inside the room, and the scarred man stepped inside to let her in.

Inside, a music stand stood in the middle of the room. Opposite it, there were three tables, with three seats. In one of the seats sat a very tired and stressed looking woman with short black hair and eyes to match. Next to her sat another young woman with dark purple hair tied up, and very revealing clothing. She gave Tenten a grin. The third seat was empty, and she supposed that was where the scarred man sat.

Tenten set her violin case on the ground and began unpacking her violin.

"I don't think I've seen you before," said the woman with purple hair. "What's your name?"

"Tenten. I just moved here."

"Welcome to Konoha, then! I'm Mitarashi Anko, and this is Ibiki and Shizune. We're three of the KYO's string tutors."

"Have you got a piece to play for us?" asked Shizune, the tired one.

Tenten nodded and held up her music. It was a Vivaldi violin sonata which she'd been practicing for a while. She put the music on the stand and held up her violin, ready to play. Ibiki was now sitting in his chair, and the three tutors had a piece of paper ready to take notes on Tenten's performance.

She began to play. It wasn't the most difficult piece she'd ever played, but it was one of her favourites because of the sound. She loved playing Baroque music, and was getting right into the piece when Shizune held up a hand to stop her. "That's enough, thank you."

They weren't going to let her finish? She had barely played ten bars! Did they know that early on that she was not good enough for their orchestra?

Then she noticed the looks that the three of them were exchanging. Not exasperation or disgust, but the look of someone who was impressed! Did that mean she was in?

"If you're new to the area, you may not know how things go in the KYO," said Shizune, looking more motivated than she had a few minutes ago. "We rehearse for one saturday each month, apart from in the summer time. During the summer holidays we go on tour towards the Sound Village, and go to the music festival there. We rehearse the day after tomorrow here in the Academy, and then the day after that we begin our tour. I'll organise your paperwork right now." She began rummaging in a mountain of papers. Tenten felt quite sorry for her.

"So... I'm in the orchestra?"

"More than that," said Anko. "How would you feel about being the leader?"

-----

_**That's chapter one done – sorry it's a bit short. I was going to have it as a prologue, but then that would mean that chapter 2 is chapter 1 and I hate that sort of thing ^^**_

_**I'm not sure whether or not to give Tenten a surname, seeing as in Naruto she doesn't have one. I also had to give her a parent, because in this fanfic she's 15, too young to live by herself. I just picked a random name for her mother.**_

_**Chapter 2 coming soon, please review!**_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would be dead and Neji and Tenten would be together already**_


	2. Day One at the KYO

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 2 – Day One at the KYO**

Seika had been ecstatic when Tenten came home and signed all the forms Shizune had given her at once.

"Mum, about the cost..." began Tenten.

"Don't worry about it," said her mum at once. "This is a brilliant opportunity for you! Leader of the orchestra! That's my girl, I knew you were something special!"

Tenten examined her mother's expression. She wanted to go play with the orchestra, but she wasn't sure about the money. Since they were going on tour, parents had to pay money towards accommodation, and while she didn't know exactly how much it cost, she knew her mum didn't have much. Today had been Seika's first day at work. Tenten had asked how it had gone, but only to be polite. She knew that no matter what the truth was, the answer would always be the same: _"It went well, honey. I think I could definitely get used to it!"_

"What are you doing, staring into space?" asked Seika. "Go pack! You'll be going on tour with the KYO soon!"

Tenten smiled and did as she was told. _I hope we can stay here a while. I hope she's telling the truth about work..._

-----

A loud buzz of chatter surrounded Tenten this time as she entered the Academy. Just inside the door, Shizune sat at the reception desk with stacks of paper in front of her, and young musicians were crowded into the hall, chatting to each other. No one noticed Tenten slip between them and make her way up to the desk.

"Name?" asked Shizune without looking up.

"Tenten."

"Oh yes, our new leader!" Shizune smiled a tired smile and handed Tenten some papers. "That's the timetable for this week, your music, and your room key for the hotel we'll be staying at tomorrow night. Please don't lose it. You'll be sharing the room with another girl your age." She rummaged around and found another sheet of paper, where she ticked off Tenten's name. "We're rehearsing over in the hall, just down there." She pointed her in the right direction.

Tenten thanked her and left. Glancing back at all the paperwork stacked on the desk, she did not envy Shizune her job one bit.

She entered the hall, which had seats put out for the orchestra. Music stands were also there, each one with a symbol of a leaf on it, and saying "_**KYO**_" on them. There were quite a lot of people in the room by the edges, unpacking their instruments. Tenten walked over to the violin end of the orchestra and examined one of the music stands more closely. They were finely made – the kind that are impossible to break no matter how many times you let them be used by a large group of teenagers. How could the orchestra afford this?

"Hi there, I don't think I've seen you here before?" The speaker was a blonde guy, older than her, and had his hair tied up, covering half his face. He was holding a violin bow in his hands and was tightening it.

"I just moved here. I'm Tenten," she said.

"Deidara," he replied. He glanced at her violin case. "Another violinist? Great! We have a vacancy, see..."

"A vacancy?"

"Long story. Anyway, welcome to the violin section! Are you a First or a Second?"

"First," she replied. She almost told him that she was the leader, but that would come out sounding like boasting so she held her tongue.

"Same! Anyway, I'd best get that violin of mine..."

Tenten put her case down next to Deidara's and unpacked it, putting her bag beside her case. When she went back to the first violin section, she found Deidara sitting in the leader's seat.

Tenten sighed. "Sorry, Deidara, but you're sitting in my seat."

Deidara looked up at her. "You got the position of lead? I'll never get the chance! I was sure I would be at the end of last year, when Kabuto left..."

"If it means that much to you..."

"Nah, if you got the seat, you earned the seat. I don't mind. At least I'll get to sit next to you." He grinned at her again, and moved to the other seat, letting her sit in the leader's position. "You'll be a better desk partner than the one I had last year."

She sat down and flicked through the music folder she'd been given, also with "_**KYO**_" stamped on it, along with the leaf symbol. The very first piece in it was Camille Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre. Tenten grinned as she looked at the solo violin part. She'd always loved this piece, and had learned to play it a while ago. She put the music up on the stand, and Deidara looked at it.

"Wow, I'm really glad I'm not lead this year, actually!" he said, examining at the solo. "That looks difficult!"

"It's not as bad as it looks. It just looks hard because of all the double stopping." _**(*)**_

Deidara looked at her as if she were mad. "What else is in here? There's got to be something easier." He turned the page in the folder and found some of Grieg's Peer Gynt suite. Morning, Anitra's Dance and Hall of the Mountain King. "Morning. That's a nice piece, and not too difficult," he said.

She was about to reply when the conductor, a large-breasted woman with blonde hair, identified by Deidara as Tsunade, arrived. She was dressed in green, and had her hair tied back.

"Quiet!" she called, and instantly, everyone fell silent, apart from one trombone player at the back. Tsunade instantly seized her baton, which was lying on her podium, and threw it with deadly accuracy across the room, where it hit the noisy trombone player square on the forehead. "That means you too, Naruto Uzumaki!" Tenten made a mental note never to cross this lady.

Naruto rubbed his forehead. "Ouch! That left a mark!"

"Quiet. And bring me my baton."

Grumbling, he did as he was told, bringing the baton over to her, which she accepted with a superior smile.

Acting as if nothing had happened, Tsunade beamed at them. "Welcome to any new people here. I am Tsunade, your conductor, and we will start by playing Morning."

Tenten had never played it before, but she knew the piece and it was a beautiful one. She played it to the best of her ability, and the rest of the orchestra did the same. It sounded nice – she was impressed with this orchestra. It was much more talented than the one she'd played in before her dad left them. In fact, that orchestra was really just a bunch of bored teenagers who could barely summon the motivation to lift their instruments.

Tsunade stopped them and went over some parts, improving the bits that needed to be improved. As she went over the cello solo with the cello section, Tenten realised with a jolt that she recognised the lead cellist. It was the helpful guy from the audition day who had pointed her in the right direction. What was his name again? Neji. That was it. She couldn't understand how she didn't guess he was a cellist before – he just looked so natural playing it, as if he and the instrument were made for each other. The sound he was making was mellow, sweet and beautiful. She had never heard the cello played so beautifully.

The rehearsal time passed quickly and Tenten enjoyed playing. She expected Deidara to be quite cold towards her, seeing as in a way she'd stolen his position, but he took it very well and was very friendly. Soon it was break time, and the music was replaced by chatter. Deidara put his violin down and asked her, "Do you want to come hang around with us?"

Tenten glanced over his shoulder and saw a small group of people Deidara's age. Some of them looked very strange – there was a boy with piercings all over his face, a blue-haired girl with a flower in her hair, a boy whose skin had a slightly greyish tinge and seemed to remind Tenten of sharks. While it was nice of Deidara to offer, she could tell that she wouldn't really be able to fit into their group, being about two years younger.

"No thanks," she said. "But it was nice of you to offer."

Deidara left the room with his group to chat in the hallway, and Tenten looked around nervously. Apart from Deidara, she didn't really know anyone else, apart from Neji who she'd only met briefly. Still, it was better than talking to a complete stranger. Summoning her courage, she walked up to Neji who was having a quiet conversation with the boy who sat next to him. This boy had blood red hair, dark rings around his pale turquoise eyes and the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead.

"Um... hi," she said, and he turned to look at her. She felt slightly stupid, but she knew no one else. She wondered if he actually remembered her. A flicker of recognition appeared in his eyes and he opened his mouth to speak, but a voice from behind interrupted him.

"Who's your girlfriend, Neji?" It was the loud trombone player who'd been hit by Tsunade's baton. He had blonde spiky hair and lively blue eyes, and was followed by a shy-looking girl with dark blue hair and pale violet eyes.

"Hi, I'm Tenten," she said. With Neji she was tongue-tied, but she could tell that with Naruto she could be herself.

Naruto scratched his head. "How come I haven't seen you here before?"

"I just moved."

"Welcome to the KYO!" he said with a grin. "One of these days I'm gonna be conductor of this orchestra!"

The shy girl smiled to herself and Neji sighed. The phrase rang a bell in Tenten's memory. She remembered the young violinist, Konohamaru, say the same thing at the audition.

"Still going on about that?" asked Neji.

"What instrument do you play?" Naruto asked Tenten, acting as if he hadn't heard Neji.

"Violin," she replied. Naruto winced.

"Unlucky!"

Tenten blinked, confused. "How am I unlucky?"

"Word of advice. Stay away from Sasuke, or Karin will make your life a living hell," said Naruto. He pointed over towards a girl with pink/red hair and glasses who was standing across the room. Tenten recognised her as the girl who sat behind her.

"Who's Sasuke?" she asked. "Is he that good looking?"

"No!" burst out Naruto. "I'm much better than him. Right, Hinata?!"

A blush spread across the blue-haired girl's cheeks as she nodded and smiled shyly at Tenten.

"You're telling her to stay away from someone she hasn't even met yet," said Neji, half exasperated and half amused.

"Just being helpful. Karin gives Ino and Sakura-chan a bad enough time."

"Can we not talk about the Uchiha?" asked Neji's red-haired desk partner. It was the first time Tenten had heard him speak. He seemed like a very quiet guy.

"Gaara doesn't like Uchiha Sasuke," said Neji. His tone of voice suggested that he felt the same way.

They talked for a while longer, Naruto providing most of the conversation. Hinata and Gaara barely spoke three words between them, and eventually the red-haired boy drifted off to join a saxophone player identified by Naruto as his big brother Kankuro. Tenten's feeling of awkwardness soon vanished, and she was relieved at how readily they accepted her. Soon it was time to rehearse again and Tenten sat back down in her seat next to Deidara. They played through the Peer Gynt, the Danse Macabre and also Tam O' Shantar. At lunch time Naruto invited Tenten to join him, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Sasuke and Sakura at the local ramen bar, Ichiraku. Sakura turned out to be a pink-haired flutist who Naruto had an obvious crush on, while Sasuke was a quiet dark-haired boy who played the oboe. Before she knew it, the day was over and she was walking home, her arms tired from playing.

Seika was already making dinner when she got home. "How was it, Ten-chan?"

"Good," she replied, but she knew that wasn't an honest answer. _Brilliant_ was how she truly felt it had gone. But why did she have a feeling it had gone too well to be true?

-----

_**Chapter 2 done! I'd just like to make a couple of points:**_

_**I did not include the second piece of the Peer Gynt Suite which comes between Morning and Anitra's Dance because I can't remember its name _**_

_**I apologise if I get any violin terms wrong as I'm not actually a violinist**_

_**Even though I am not a violinist I think I can safely say that the Danse Macabre's violin solo **_**is****_ as hard as it looks_**

_**Since some of the Akatsuki are very weird, I have changed them slightly to make them less weird (not that I don't like them the way they are, it's just to make the story more realistic). Despite that, you'll probably be able to recognise them when I describe them ^^**_

_**You may want to know the people's ages, since I've included the Akatsuki members in the orchestra when they're supposed to be adults. Not everyone listed below has been mentioned yet, but they are all members of the Konoha Youth Orchestra: **_

_**Adults: age unknown (it's rude to ask!)**_

_**Tenten, Ino, Sai, Neji, Gaara, Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke, Shino, Lee, Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji: 15**_

_**Kankuro, Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu: 16**_

_**Temari, Pein, Deidara, Konan, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, Zetsu, Tobi, Kisame: 17**_

_**(*) For those of you who don't know what double stopping is, it's when you play more than one note at once**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just the KYO**_

_**Please review!**_


	3. Going on Tour

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 3 – Going on Tour**

"Are you sure you're gonna be fine by yourself?"

"Who's the parent, you or me?"

Tenten half-smiled. "Bye, mum. Love you."

"Bye, Ten-chan!"

Seika waved Tenten goodbye as she left the house with her violin in one hand and her bag in the other. She was all set for the KYO tour, and looking forward to seeing her new friends again. The orchestra was meeting at the Academy, where they were getting buses to the hotel where they would be practising and staying the night. As she expected, it was extremely hectic when she arrived. Three buses were there and the poor drivers were putting up with having twenty instruments and suitcases shoved in their faces at once and being asked to put them in the boot of the bus.

Tenten checked the form that Shizune had given her. It said she was on bus 3, which was the smallest one. She could see Neji over at Bus 1, making sure his cello was safe in the boot.

She handed her violin case and bag to the driver of Bus 3 and was about to climb inside and find a seat when she sensed someone behind her. She turned, and saw it was Hinata, the shy girl she'd met the day before.

"Hi, Hinata. Are you getting on this bus too?"

"Yes. Would you mind if I sat next to you?" the blue-haired girl asked quietly. Hinata played the harp, which was too big for the bus, and Tenten saw it being loaded onto an expensive-looking car. She wondered if Hinata was rich.

"Not at all!" said Tenten, relieved that there was someone on the bus she actually knew.

She and Hinata went climbed onto the bus and found themselves some seats. As the bus began to fill up with people, Tenten asked, "So, this happens every year?"

Hinata nodded. "The music festival in the Sound Village is something Tsunade never wants to miss."

"It's that good?"

"Sort of. When we reach the festival we participate in the advanced orchestra competition against the Sound Village orchestra. Everyone's very competitive about it. It's normally OK, but I don't know about this year..."

"What could go wrong? It's just a competition."

Hinata shook her head. "I suppose it's a matter of pride. The trophy that the winning orchestra gets is probably the most desired item in the world of music around here. They also say that the Sound Village's orchestra's new conductor, Orochimaru, will do anything to get that trophy. I just don't like the sound of it. Anyway, any youth orchestra is allowed to compete for that trophy, but the two biggest are Konoha and the Sound Village, so it is almost always one of us who wins it. There are also other competitions in the festival, but this one's the biggest. If you win the trophy, then there is also a cash prize, both for the orchestra and for the conductor."

"So that's how you can afford to go on tour every year, and have personalised music stands and everything?"

"Yes. We don't always win the trophy, but around half the time we do. We won it last year, but things have changed since then."

"What's changed?"

"Last year we had one of the most brilliant violinists ever – Kabuto. He was talented, popular, and he seemed like a really nice guy. But after we won that trophy, he changed. I don't know how or why, but suddenly he abandoned Konoha and the orchestra, and moved to the Sound Village. He plays for their orchestra now, and they say he's really friendly with Orochimaru the conductor. In fact, I think it was around the time when Orochimaru became conductor that Kabuto abandoned us."

"Just because he moved home didn't mean he necessarily abandoned you," said Tenten uncomfortably, feeling a slight pang of guilt, wondering how long _she_ would be staying.

Hinata shook her head. "He really changed. He started to skip rehearsals, he stopped hanging around with all of us, and whenever anyone tried to talk to him he'd just snap or sneer."

Tenten shrugged. "OK, so the orchestra has a good violinist. That doesn't necessarily mean they're a better orchestra."

"I know... but a good leader can count for a lot, and as I said before, they say Orochimaru will do anything to get that trophy."

"Is Tsunade worried about this?"

Hinata shook her head. "Tsunade is a gambler. That's partly why we go to this festival every year – because if we win, she gets money."

"She did strike me as a gambling type," said Tenten dryly, remembering that the word written on the back of the woman's jacket. She decided it was time to change the subject. "It must be difficult moving a harp around."

Hinata nodded. "I'm all right most of the time. I can normally fit it into one of our cars easily."

"You have more than one?"

Hinata blushed. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to boast."

Tenten laughed. "Don't worry about it."

They spent the majority of the bus trip in a comfortable silence, and Tenten watched the scenery go by, gradually changing. They left Konoha and drove through the country, presumably on their way to another town or city. After a couple of hours the bus stopped in front of a hotel in an unfamiliar town and her jaw dropped.

Her old orchestra had practised in a hotel a few times, but not one like this. She'd known that the KYO had money, but not _this_ much. It was the type of hotel she'd never been to in her whole life. She didn't know hotels very well, but even so she was almost certain it was a 5 star. It was big and impressive-looking with a huge entrance and car park.

Hinata nudged Tenten lightly to bring her back to reality and the two of them got off the bus. Hinata's car (which Tenten now knew was one of many) was already there and the shy girl hurried over to help the driver unload her harp. Tenten wondered just how wealthy Hinata was, because she could tell by the way the driver acted that he was not any relative of Hinata's, but a chauffeur.

She got her own bag and violin out of the back of the bus, and walked into the hotel with Hinata.

"If you can get your own car to take the harp, why not ride in it yourself?" Tenten asked her.

Hinata looked uncomfortable. "I don't really want to seem..." She trailed off.

"Yeah, I guess I understand." Tenten checked the number on the room key she'd been given by Shizune as they walked up the steps towards the door of the hotel together. "315... I wonder who I'll be sharing with."

"Me," said Hinata with a smile. She held up her own, identical, key and again, Tenten felt relieved that she knew and liked her roommate.

"HEY!!! Tenten! Hinata! Wait UP!!!" Even though she'd never heard that voice before yesterday, Tenten recognised the shout of Naruto Uzumaki instantly. He was running towards them awkwardly, holding a trombone case in one hand and with a rucksack over the other shoulder. Hinata's face went suddenly very red and they both stopped to let Naruto catch up.

"Thought you two were gonna leave me behind," he said, panting for breath. He then turned and yelled back at his bus, "Neji, Fuzzy-Eyebrows, are you two gonna take forever?! I'm hungry!!!"

"Well, you've certainly made sure we're all fully awake," sighed Tsunade as she walked past. "You never change."

Neji came walking towards them, accompanied by a trumpet player with a bowl-shaped haircut and very thick eyebrows. As they got closer Tenten could make out what they were saying.

"So what did you score? I'm sure I beat you this time!" said the trumpeter enthusiastically.

"142," said Neji in a bored voice. "Pass with Distinction."

"And once more I lose," the trumpeter replied dramatically. Tenten wondered whether he was acting or not. "But I will beat you, my eternal rival! With the power of youth!"

Neji said nothing. From the look on his face, Tenten could tell that he'd heard all of this before.

"Stop arguing about exam results," said Naruto sulkily. "Like anyone cares about that sort of stuff."

"Says the guy who failed," smirked Sasuke as he walked past.

Naruto started yelling about him being the greatest and one day becoming conductor of the orchestra (despite the fact that Sasuke was now out of earshot), so Tenten tuned it out.

Neji sighed. "Shall we go in?"

The inside of the hotel was just as grand as the outside and had very large lifts, but there were about fifty people trying to crowd themselves in, along with their bags and instruments. In the end, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Neji and the trumpeter (who had introduced himself as Lee) managed to get to a lift and squeeze themselves in.

"We need to go to floor 3, I guess," Tenten said, looking at her room key.

"Same!" exclaimed Naruto, holding up his own. He shuffled his way over to the buttons and slammed his hand down on the number 3, in the process knocking into Hinata's harp which knocked into Tenten, throwing her to the side. Instead of hitting the wall of the lift, she hit something soft and glanced up to see that she was leaning against Neji! "Oh, sorry!" she said, straightening up again. A blush spread across her cheeks and she wished he wasn't quite so handsome.

"That's OK." Luckily he didn't seem annoyed, just surprised.

The lift stopped at the third floor and they all tumbled out. It turned out that Lee, Naruto and Neji were all sharing a room right down the hall from Hinata's and Tenten's. They promised to meet up for lunch in ten minutes and went to their rooms.

Tenten and Hinata's room was big. Very big. Tenten's old orchestra had gone on tour only once ever, and everyone had ended up staying in a youth hostel where it was six people to a room, with everyone crowded in bunk beds and one bathroom shared between four rooms. This hotel had two large beds and their own private bathroom, complete with shower and bath. "W-o-w."

"Which bed do you want?" asked Hinata, putting her harp into the corner of the room where it wouldn't get in the way and was unlikely to get knocked over.

Tenten had no clue which to pick since she was still getting over the fact that they were _big_ but she knew that Hinata was so shy she'd feel uncertain choosing the one she wanted. "I'll take the one by the window," she said, going to put her case down on it. As she placed her things down, a flash of movement out the window caught her eye. The window was facing out towards the back of the hotel, where there was no car park, just a plain grassy area with a few picnic benches. There was a stone path leading around back to the front of the hotel and Tenten could have sworn she saw a figure with long, bright red hair on that path. When she looked again, there was nothing.

"Something wrong?" asked Hinata.

"No, nothing," said Tenten, but as she unpacked her things, she kept glancing out the window. "Anyway, let's enjoy this tour. I have a feeling it will be interesting."

-----

_**Sorry about the slight gap between chapters, I was ill for a while. I've also been practising for our own music festival which is coming up. Luckily I'm not playing a solo at it though, just playing in a String Quartet (which is actually tonight) and a String Ensemble.**_

_**Anyway, I thought today was a good day for adding this chapter because it's Tenten's birthday! Happy birthday Ten-chan! Maybe as a present Kishimoto will give you more screen time? But I kinda doubt it.**_

_**Sorry I'm not very good at describing buildings, it's just something I'm awful at _**_

_**Who was the mysterious red-headed stranger? Just something for you to ponder. I also felt I should explain a bit more about the competition which will be one of the main plot lines. **_

_**I'm going to make the story a lot more interesting from now on! I feel like I'm not including Neji enough at the moment, but there will be more of him. He's quite difficult to write about, actually, or at least I find him difficult to write about. Ah well, he's still one of my favourite characters.**_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, believe me, you'd know it**_

_**Please review, it makes me very happy! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far!**_


	4. A Message from the Enemy

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 4 – A Message from the Enemy**

Tenten had to admit that going on tour with the Konoha Youth Orchestra was one of the funnest things she'd ever done. They practised in the hotel and gave a concert that night in the local village hall. After sharing a room with Hinata, Tenten realised that she'd found a good friend in her – she was sweet, intelligent, and too nice for words. She also grew to enjoy the company of Naruto, Lee and Neji, who they spent a lot of time with. Hinata confided in Tenten that she had a crush on Naruto (which she pretended not to have guessed already), and Tenten could see why. Even though he was incredibly loud and rather stupid, she could tell that he was a really good person who cared about his friends. Lee and Neji were complete opposites, but she got on well with both of them. Lee was incredibly chivalrous and it was impossible not to like him, and Neji was... well, Neji. He was a quiet boy, and although he told Lee and Naruto off a lot for acting like idiots, Tenten could tell that he really did like them. He was the type who hid his emotions a lot of the time, but that did not mean he had none.

To her surprise, Tenten also found she rather enjoyed the company of Deidara during rehearsals. Her desk partner in her old orchestra had been incredibly boring, unable to make any conversation and had never shown the slightest interest in her as a person. Deidara was always full of energy, and did not seem to mind at all that he had to turn pages for a girl two years younger than him. He knew some very good jokes and liked to chatter on about his ideas about art.

The next day they went back to the buses and travelled to a resort in some other village where they were to stay the weekend. Again, they stayed in a 5 star hotel and were served dinner and breakfast. In the morning, Tenten was used to having a slice of toast and a glass of orange juice. Here, they offered ten different kinds of fruit, yoghurt, toast, pastries, rolls, cereals, baked beans, sausages, fried eggs, bacon, hash browns, vegetarian sausages, orange juice, apple juice, pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, and another kind of juice which was from some sort of exotic fruit that Tenten didn't recognise. She was completely bowled over and had no idea what to have, but the others seemed used to this. It was at this breakfast that Tenten made the unexpected discovery that Neji and Hinata were cousins. Neji had passed Hinata a knife and she'd said "Thank you, Nii-san", causing Tenten to almost knock over her cereal bowl. When she thought about it, it was rather obvious. They had the same pale violet eyes, and she could see the resemblance in their good looks. It seemed that Neji's parents were dead, so he was living with his late father's twin brother, who was Hinata's father. Their family was one of those really old clans which was incredibly rich.

At the resort, Tenten was sharing another large room with Hinata, which was quite similar to the previous one. They had been given the option to change roommates for the second hotel, but Tenten was happy with her shy friend. The rooms all had phones which could to phone other rooms, so of course they were all ringing, and people were playing prank calls on each other. That evening, the two girls had, after the sixth prank call from Kiba, the double bass player who stayed just downstairs, started ignoring the phone every time it rang and watched TV together instead. They took it in turns to use the powerful shower, and lounged on their beds, brushing their wet hair.

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door, which they ignored at first. Like the prank calling, a lot of people were going around, randomly knocking on doors, so they did nothing. Then they heard Naruto's loud voice calling, "Tenten, Hinata, open the door!" He was as loud as ever, but his tone had a lot more urgency in it than usual, so Tenten jumped up to open the door. Naruto and Neji stood there, and between them they were supporting Lee. The way they held him, it was as if he couldn't stand up on his own.

"What's going on here?" asked Tenten. Hinata turned the TV off and came over to the door to see what was going on.

"Just help us get him inside," said Neji. The four of them got Lee into the room and put him down on Tenten's bed, which was the closer one to the door.

Lee's green clothes were muddy and torn, and he was covered in cuts and bruises. He had one black eye and seemed only half conscious.

"Lee-san, what happened?" asked Hinata in her timid voice.

"He got attacked while he was out getting food from the shop," said Naruto, his blue eyes more serious than Tenten had ever seen them. "Three of them beat him up."

Tenten and Hinata gasped.

"Then you have to tell one of the tutors!" exclaimed Tenten.

"No..." Lee sat up and his eyes focused on the two girls. "No, you can't tell anyone."

"But -"

"No."

"He insisted that we didn't take him to Tsunade or any of the other adults," said Neji. "Since our room is a lot further away, we brought him here to avoid attention."

"Who was it?" asked Tenten.

"I don't know their names," said Lee. "But I'm pretty sure they were from the Sound Village Orchestra."

"I knew it," said Naruto bitterly. "I told you you should've let me go find them, Neji! I would've kicked their -"

"No, you wouldn't," said Neji firmly. "We don't want to go asking for more trouble. Besides, it would be three against one. Do you want to take a beating like the one Lee got?"

"How do you know they were from the Sound Orchestra?" asked Tenten.

"They said... 'Remember this. You can't win no matter what. You may as well give up, along with your band of losers.' Something like that." Even in his state, Lee did a pretty good impression of a low-voiced, menacing guy.

"That's crazy! They beat you up as a... a _message_ to warn us to give up?!" said Tenten. "Why would they go so far just because of a music competition?"

"That's the Sound Village," said Neji. "They're an unpleasant lot."

"We should tell someone about this, Lee-san," said Hinata.

Lee shook his head. "I don't want anyone making a fuss."

"But they hurt you!"

Lee said nothing, but his expression didn't change.

Tenten's thoughts went back to the person she'd seen out the window at the last hotel. "Did one of them have red hair?" she asked slowly.

"No. Why?" Lee looked confused, as did the rest of them.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "What _did_ they look like?"

"There were two boys and a girl... they all had black hair. The girl's hair was really really long," said Lee. "One of the boys' hair was really spiky. The other boy was always slouching, it was weird... and they all had the same pattern on their clothes. Like a spotted cow's hide..."

"A _girl_? A girl helped beat you up?" exclaimed Naruto.

Lee nodded. "She was a lot stronger than she looked."

"Well, I don't think it's safe for any of us to go out alone," said Neji. "As long as we're in the resort, we're probably safe."

"But what will we do about Lee-san?" asked Hinata. "If you don't want anyone to know about this, then getting him back to your room will be..."

"Yes, we'll have to wait here until dark," said Neji. "By then the corridors will be clear. After all, our room is quite far from here."

Hinata and Tenten both went slightly red at the thought of the three boys staying in their room until dark, but they knew this was necessary.

"Sorry about all this, Tenten-san, Hinata-san," said Lee. "Next time, I will be a stronger man and I will be able to defeat them all."

"Don't worry about it," said Tenten. "None of this is _your_ fault."

"I've just remembered," said Hinata. "I need to go downstairs and get my harp ready for tomorrow's concert. I need to move it into the other hall..."

"Go ahead, Hinata-sama,"said Neji. "But you'll probably need help, that harp is heavy."

"I'll go," volunteered Naruto, and Hinata blushed bright red. "On the way back, I'll get Lee some fresh clothes as well."

Lee murmured his thanks, and the two of them left the room. Tenten was quite taken aback by Naruto's thoughtfulness.

"That was quite nice of him," she said.

"Naruto _can _be very nice once he stops acting like an idiot," said Neji. "Should we go out onto the balcony to leave Lee in some peace?"

"Are you sure you don't need any of those cuts looked at?" Tenten asked Lee. She was worried that if they didn't get cleaned, they could get infected.

"I'm fine, Tenten-san," said Lee, giving her a weak imitation of his usual smile. "I just need a bit of rest, I think."

Tenten went out onto the balcony with Neji, turning out the lights behind her and drawing the curtain. When she'd first arrived at the hotel and seen the balcony she'd been struck by how huge it was. Now, standing there with Neji, it seemed incredibly small. She was all too aware of the small distance between them, and the fact that they were alone together.

It was just getting dark, but the sky was so thick with clouds it was impossible to see any stars. Nevertheless, Tenten pretended to be preoccupied with looking at the sky, while trying to distract herself from the fact that Neji was right next to her. It didn't help that he was the handsomest guy she knew...

What was she thinking?! She valued the friends she'd made at the KYO, she didn't want to risk all of them just for one guy! Besides, she had only known him for a few days. Since she'd had so little time to get to know him, logic dictated that the attraction was just physical. But why was her heart racing so fast?

"You should let your hair down more often," said Neji, breaking her train of thought. "It looks nice." She jumped, surprised at his comment and blushed slightly.

"I – thanks," she said quietly. "It looks a lot like yours when it's down." Whoops! Was she complimenting his hair? She hadn't really intended for it to sound like that. Was it an insult to compliment a guy's hair? Luckily, Neji didn't seem to mind, and gave her a rare smile.

There was very little distance between them. Tenten felt the mad urge to suddenly throw her arms around him, so she hugged her arms to her chest. She looked up and caught Neji looking at her, and their eyes met. His eyes were so pale and beautiful she felt she was losing herself in them.

"Tenten! Neji!"

Naruto burst through the balcony door, and Neji and Tenten both jumped, as though they had been caught doing something they shouldn't. Hinata came out behind Naruto, and the four of them crowded onto the balcony.

"Lee-san's just getting changed into the clothes Naruto-kun got him," Hinata explained.

"How's he doing?" asked Tenten.

"You know him," said Naruto. "As bright and cheery as ever."

"We should be able to move soon," said Neji. "The corridors seem to be quieting down."

Lee opened the balcony door and beckoned everyone back inside. He was dressed in bright orange.

"Not that I'm complaining, Naruto-kun," he said, "since you were so kind as to get me some new clothes, but don't you have any _green_?"

Naruto scratched his head. "What's wrong with orange?"

Tenten bit back a laugh and exchanged a look with Neji.

"Anyway, let's go back to our room," said Lee. "We don't want to inconvenience Tenten-san and Hinata-san any more."

"It's fine, we don't mind," said Hinata quietly, but the boys were all getting ready to leave.

Lee put his arm over Neji's shoulder and leaned against him, and the three of them left the room. Tenten heard Naruto saying "Well I'm wearing orange tomorrow night, that'll be ok, right?"

"Tomorrow night?" Tenten asked Hinata. "What's he talking about?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I never thought to tell you! Of course, you don't know, since you're new!"

"Huh?"  
"Every year, the second day we stay at this resort we have a dance in the evening. Like a school social. Everyone gets dressed up and -"

"- I didn't think to bring anything to wear. Brilliant."

Hinata hung her head. "I'm sorry, I should have told you..."

"It's not your fault," said Tenten and she rummaged through the clothes she'd brought with her. None of them were remotely dressy enough for a dance. "Maybe I'll just not go..."

"No, you have to go! It's not something you want to miss!"

"But I've got nothing to wear!"

"Not yet," said Hinata quietly, holding something up. It was a credit card.

-----

_**There, that's Chapter 4 done! Sorry the chapters are quite short, but quality not quantity, right?**_

_**I thought it was time for a bit more interesting plot, and NejiTen. Aaah, the cuteness. This chapter mostly wrote itself, I'm so happy. **_

_**I'm wondering what colour dress to have Tenten wear. I'm thinking either pink for her Naruto outfit or red for her Shippuuden outfit. Or maybe it will be a completely different colour. I may ask a friend to help me describe the dress because I'm terrible with stuff like that!**_

_**Three guesses who attacked Lee!**_

_**I just played with my String Ensemble at our Music Festival. We came second. But at least our String Quartet came first ^^**_

_**The resort in this chapter is actually based on a real one I went to with HRYO, the orchestra I play in, and it is a resort in Aviemore (which is in the Highlands of Scotland). We didn't actually stay in the 5 star hotel there but we had breakfast there every morning. If you're ever in Aviemore I really recommend going to the McDonald resort, it's absolutely brilliant! ^^**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... yet**_

_**Please review, it makes me very happy! Thank you to KawaiPanda, Toph43, SparkDazzleDuez and Tokzzz, my reviewers so far.**_


	5. A Dance in Fire

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 5 – A Dance in Fire**

"You ready, Hinata?" Tenten called into the bathroom. "We'd best get going now."

"Y-yes, I think so." Hinata only stuttered when she was nervous or she was talking to Naruto. And right now she was nervous, incredibly nervous. She stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a beautiful dark purple dress which went well with her hair and contrasted with her eyes nicely. She had admitted that the dress had been made for her, and Tenten could see that, since it fitted her perfectly and made the most of Hinata's figure. It was unlike anything Tenten had ever seen her friend wear before, so she wasn't surprised at Hinata's nervousness.

Rehearsals had ended early in order to give everyone time to prepare for the dance. Ino and Sakura, the two girls next door, were plastering their faces with make up and curling their hair. Tenten didn't wear make up all that often, and even when she did, she didn't put much of it on. Tonight she'd applied some eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss, but only enough to accent her natural looks. Hinata had done the same, and personally Tenten thought that Hinata looked a lot prettier than the flutist and violist in the room next to them.

Tenten glanced at herself in the mirror. The dress that Hinata had insisted on buying for her was beautiful and red, with a rose on one of the straps. She had matching red flats on her feet and had used red ribbons to tie up her hair. Tenten wasn't vain, but secretly, she did think she looked fantastic, although she didn't want to say this out loud. Her appearance gave her confidence, though, and although she wasn't 100% comfortable with Hinata buying her an expensive dress, she knew that she would never be able to go to this dance in her normal clothes.

As she and Hinata left the room and began to make their way downstairs, Tenten's thoughts drifted to Neji. As always, her heart jumped when she thought about him, and she wondered what he would look like dressed up for a dance. Again, she silently thanked Hinata for the dress, because she would never be able to face Neji without it. Even so, the thought of him made her almost as nervous as Hinata was.

They reached the ground floor. From there they could hear the faint sound of music, even over Ino and Sakura behind them arguing about who would get to dance with Sasuke Uchiha first. The dance was taking place in the same room used for rehearsals, but all instruments, music stands and music had been moved. A few of the KYO members were standing on a stage at one end of the large room, playing music. Hinata had told Tenten that there were some people who preferred to play than dance and volunteered to play the music. Tenten had almost put her own name down to play instead of dance, but Hinata had insisted and besides, it had been too late.

There were quite a few people in the room already. Kiba, a fierce double bass player who enjoyed prank calling and reminded Tenten of dogs, walked right up to the two of them. He had been Hinata's friend since childhood and was very protective of her, like an older brother. Immediately he claimed Hinata for the first dance, bringing a tinge of pink to her cheeks. Tenten knew that if Naruto were to make such an offer, she would probably faint.

That moment, as if on cue, the loud Uzumaki boy walked into the room, followed by Lee and Neji. Neji had clearly managed to convince his two friends their usual bright orange and green were _not_ the most appropriate dress code for a dance. Naruto was dressed in black, which brought out his brilliantly blonde hair, and wore a plain white shirt underneath his jacket. His hair was as spiky as ever, and his permanent grin was still on his face, and Tenten had to admit he looked quite good. Lee was also dressed mostly in black, but his shirt was dark green. He looked as "unique" as he usually did, but managed to make himself look quite smart.

Then there was Neji. In contrast to his friends, he was dressed in pure, snowy white. Hinata had told Tenten that Neji loved the colour white and only wore black at funerals. His clothes brought out his pale eyes, and contrasted with his long dark hair. He hadn't changed his appearance much – he'd really just changed into more formal clothes – but he still took Tenten's breath away.

The music started, and Hinata went onto the dance floor, red in the face, to dance with Kiba. Tenten grinned over at her friend before joining Naruto and Neji, who were sitting down at the other end of the hall. Lee had bravely asked Sakura to dance with him and so he was on the dancefloor with a big grin on his face. Tenten noticed that Sakura was casting wistful looks at Sasuke, who was sitting by himself, and knew that the pink-haired girl would much rather be dancing with someone else.

Naruto, Neji and Tenten chatted for a while until the dance finished. Hinata returned, red in the face, closely followed by Lee.

"You need to dance, Naruto," said Tenten innocently. "Why don't you dance the next one with Hinata?"

To Hinata's credit, she didn't faint. But she looked like she was about to. To her surprise, Naruto looked rather red in the face too. "I don't..."

"Yes, you should dance with Hinata-san!" said Lee, pulling Naruto up from his seat. "Naruto-kun, it's rude to keep a lady waiting!"

"But I _don't know how to dance_," said Naruto in a whisper.

"You'll be fine," said Tenten, giving him a small push. "It's not that hard."

"Go, Naruto-kun!" said Lee.

Naruto led the red-faced Hinata to the dancefloor with an uncertain look on his face just as the players started playing a new tune. Tenten winced as she saw Naruto's terrible attempt at dancing and Hinata looked as though she were going to pass out any second.

"Are they going to be okay?" she asked anxiously. "Maybe I shouldn't have suggested they dance..."

"Maybe you're right," said Neji. "I think we'd better go make sure they don't injure themselves or anyone else."

Tenten felt herself blush. "You mean...?"

"Yes, I think we should go dance. I hope _you_ know how?"

"Yes, I can dance," Tenten managed to say. Dance with Neji? That was something which had been playing on her mind since she got her dress, but she hadn't expected him to ask so suddenly, or so casually.

The two of them joined the other couples in the middle of the hall and started dancing. Tenten was immediately hit by the same feeling she'd experienced when they were on the balcony. For the millionth time since she met Neji, she wished he wasn't so handsome. Not many boys could get away with having long hair without looking too feminine. Neji suited his long hair, but it didn't look the slightest bit girly. Soon Tenten's head was spinning and she forgot all about Naruto and Hinata, and about everyone around them. She locked eyes with Neji and leaned in closer. He did the same until they were inches apart...

Then the screaming started. Neji and Tenten sprang apart in surprise and the band stopped playing. Everyone stared at the screaming group in the doorway to see what was going on. Then Tenten smelled it. One word echoed throughout the hall. Fire.

Everyone started panicking immediately. Tenten could smell the smoke but there was no fire to be seen. From the panicky yells of the group in the doorway, she deduced that the fire was in the room next door, and it was spreading fast.

"Calm down!" bellowed Tsunade, who Tenten hadn't noticed until then. "Leave through the fire exit and assemble on the grass outside!"

Everyone started rushing for the fire exit, and Tenten searched through the crowd for Hinata. She found her friend making her way towards the door – the one that led to the fire. Tenten grabbed her arm. "What are you doing, Hinata? The fire exit's this way!"

"B-but my harp!"

"Your life's more important!"

Hinata met Tenten's gaze. She looked more determined than Tenten had ever seen her, and Tenten knew that her harp was as important to her as her family. The rest of the instruments were safe – most people had taken them up to their rooms. But Hinata's harp was still next door.

"Look, I know how you feel, Hinata, but you can't..."

"I have to! Please understand!"

Hinata twisted her arm out of Tenten's grasp and ran to the door. Tenten tried to follow but someone bumped into her and she stumbled over the hem of her dress. When she straightened up again she was facing Neji.

"Where's Hinata?" he asked urgently.

"She went that way!" Tenten gasped, the smoke getting to her throat now. "Her harp..."

Neji went white. Without a word he turned and ran after his younger cousin, and Tenten followed him without thinking.

The room was a nightmare. The fire was everywhere, so bright the colour burned into her eyes. Where there wasn't fire, there was smoke, which made it impossible to see. The heat attacked her skin and every part of her body was screaming at her to get away. But she couldn't leave Hinata and Neji. She had to find them. She blundered about through the smoke, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of one of her friends. She could feel the fire scorching her pretty red shoes, and breathing was getting harder and harder. A window appeared in front of her. It was a large one, going from the ceiling to the floor and easily big enough to fit a person through. But there was no latch to open it.

"Tenten!"

Naruto, Neji and Hinata appeared behind her, and Tenten turned away from the window. Her throat was burning, and her lungs were screaming for fresh air. Her three friends were wheeling Hinata's harp with them, but the door they'd come through was now cut off by the fire.

"Get behind us!" said Naruto, and Tenten realised what he was about to do. She leapt out of the way and behind the harp. All four of them pushed the harp's tough case forward, right through the window. The window shattered and glass flew everywhere as they all fell out onto the hard ground. They lay there gasping for a few minutes, breathing the sweet fresh air and coughing the smoke out of their lungs. Tenten was the first to sit up, and the first thing she saw was two figures walking away. She couldn't see their faces, just the backs of their heads. One of them had black hair. The other had long, bright red hair. A shade of red she'd seen before...

"Hurry," gasped Neji. "We have to get away from the building and join the others."

They picked themselves up, and wheeled the harp away as fast as they could, joining the others on the grass. Everything was so chaotic, no one noticed their arrival.

Everyone was slowly getting more organised, gathering themselves into groups depending on the instrument they played. Tenten joined Deidara and the other first violins, all of whom looked like they couldn't believe what was happening. Although, to be honest, neither could Tenten. Her beautiful red dress was ruined, as was her hair and shoes, but luckily she herself was mostly fine. Her chest and throat still hurt from the smoke, and she couldn't stop coughing, but it could have been worse, a lot worse.

Each section's tutor was making sure that everyone was there. The tutor for the first violins was Shizune, and Tenten was relieved to learn that everyone had gotten out of the fire safely. A lot of people were crying, but the person who was the worst off was Hinata. As Tenten expected, her friend's dress was also ruined, but she also had a large burn mark all the way up her left arm. It made Tenten shudder just looking at it. Neji was right beside her with his arm around her and he looked extremely guilty. Tenten understood that Neji considered it his duty as the older cousin to protect Hinata and clearly felt that her injury was his fault. Since Shizune had already checked that all the first violins were safe, Tenten started to make her way over to the Hyuuga cousins.

She passed the percussionists – Tobi and Kisame, and also their tutor, Izumo. The three of them were talking about how lucky it was that they'd moved all the percussion instruments out of the building and into the van. "What caused the fire, Sensei?" asked Kisame.

"Can't tell for sure yet," said Izumo. "And don't tell anyone I said this, but I think it may have been arson."

_**I'm very very sorry this chapter took ages. I had severe writer's block and I've also been trying to revise for my exams. (note the word "trying")**_

_**I started writing this chapter intending for it to be a nice little social dance, but my evil side took over, I'm afraid. And yes, Hinata really shouldn't have tried to save her harp, but I thought (since I used to play the harp myself) that she would still do it. Not that I have anything against harpists or anything, I'm not saying everyone would do the same thing as her in that situation.**_

_**What gave me the idea of the fire is the fact that there was once a fire in the school where our orchestra used to rehearse (we're not rich enough to play in 5-star hotels!). We weren't actually there at the time of the fire, but the percussion instruments were. The fire itself didn't damage them but whatever stuff (is it just plain water? I really don't know) firemen use nowadays to put out fires did. It wasn't arson, it was an electrical fire, but I'm pretty sure the janitor got sacked (can't remember properly, since it isn't my school). **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**_

_**Thank you to all reviewers!**_


	6. Confrontation

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 6 - Confrontation**

Everyone had more or less calmed down about the fire incident. More or less. A lot of people started making up stories about it which grew more and more extreme. After two hours, about ten people claimed to have been trapped in the room with the fire and to have barely escaped with their lives. These stories angered Tenten to no end, because the only person to have been properly injured was Hinata. Hinata also received a serious scolding from Tsunade for going back to get her harp. Tenten agreed with the conductor that Hinata's life was more important than a musical instrument, but decided not to mention it. The poor girl had suffered enough already.

The fire was declared to have been caused by an "electrical fault". Tenten hadn't repeated what she'd overheard Izumo saying, but she thought about it often, as well as the two people she'd seen outside. Surely they couldn't have started the fire on purpose? And could the red-headed person be the same one she saw just days ago at the start of the tour?

The fire didn't cause the orchestra much more inconvenience, because they were due to leave the resort the next day anyway. Tenten, Neji, Naruto and Lee helped Hinata with her harp and bags because her arm still hurt. She'd been taken to the local hospital straight after the fire and gotten, as Naruto put it, "her arm mummified". She'd insisted on continuing to play with the orchestra, even though she had to miss out most of the notes because she could only play the harp with one hand.

Hinata and Tenten climbed onto their bus and found that someone else was sitting in their usual seats. They were forced to go and sit in a different place, where there was a pair of seats facing them. A girl who looked around Deidara's age dropped herself into one of the seats opposite them and put a bag and a french horn case on the seat beside her. "Hey there, Hinata," she grinned. "How's the arm?"

The girl was called Temari, and although she lived in Konoha like the rest, she was originally from the Sand Village. She was a tall girl with dirty blonde hair divided into four bunches. Her eyes were a very dark green and she looked like the type of person you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. She was the eldest of three siblings, and her little brothers were Gaara and Kankuro.

"We're headed to my hometown next," said Temari proudly. "We don't normally go to the Sand Village, but this year we're making an extra stop."

"What's the Sand Village like?" asked Tenten.

"It's in the desert, and as you'd guess from the name, there's lots of sand. But the architecture's really nice. I haven't been there since Kankuro, Gaara and I moved years ago..."

Hinata had also never been to the Sand Village before either, so Temari agreed to show them around when they got there. The trip was a long one, and soon the scenery outside the window turned from grass and trees to sand and rock. It grew very hot, and Tenten was grateful for the bottle of water she had with her, and for the air conditioning of the bus. She looked out the window and was surprised to see a puddle of water in the middle of the road in front of them. As they got closer, however, the puddle disappeared and Tenten realised it was just a mirage. She'd never actually seen a real one before, only heard about them.

After some time, Temari pointed out a dark shape on the horizon. As they got closer, it became clearer that was the Sand Village. The village was surrounded by a huge stone wall which was taller than most of the buildings. The buses drove through the large gap in the wall into the village and Tenten and Hinata stared in wonder. The village was laid out artistically, and the domed houses looked as though they had been carved out of the rock rather than built.

The bus stopped outside one of the large domed buildings, which Temari identified as the hotel. As soon as Tenten stepped out of the air-conditioned bus, the heat hit her, and she was glad she hadn't used up all of her water. Others were not so fortunate. Everyone was looking incredibly uncomfortable with the heat, apart from Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. They, of course, were used to it.

As Tenten, Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Lee got the harp out of the car and wheeled it towards the hotel door, Tenten noticed that Lee was the only one wearing long sleeves. Everyone else's tops had either short sleeves or no sleeves at all, but Lee had still decided to wear his green turtleneck. "Isn't that... too hot?" Tenten asked him, wincing at the thought of wearing it in such heat. She was relieved when they stepped into the shade of the hotel.

"A bit," Lee admitted. "But I will endure, because this is sure to make me stronger!"

After taking the lift up to the hotel rooms, and putting most of their stuff up in the rooms, Tenten, Hinata, Neji, Lee and Naruto met Temari at the door. They had an hour and a half to kill until rehearsals, so they wanted to see around the village.

Despite being classed as a "village", Suna was a big place. Each and every building looked as though it had been artistically carved out of the rock, and the streets were laid out in an intricate pattern, all leading to a large building in the center.

"The Kazekage lives there," said Temari, pointing to the tall building.

"The what?" asked Naruto.

"The mayor, really. But he's always traditionally been called the Kazekage. Don't know why. The current Kazekage is my father."

"Wow, you're the daughter of the mayor, Temari-san!" exclaimed Lee. Temari smiled.

She showed them around all the temples and other landmarks, and Tenten had to admit that although Suna was almost unbearably hot, it was a beautiful place. They were looking at the statues of the previous Kazekages when Naruto's stomach rumbled.

"Do you have any ramen here?" he asked. "I'm starving."

"We don't have ramen but there's a place that sells tsukemen," said Temari.

"WHAT? NO RAMEN?" Suna was a big place, but everyone in the village must have heard that. Tenten rubbed her ears, wincing.

"Well tsukemen is very similar," said Temari. "It's the closest we have, take it or leave it."

Naruto grumbled the whole way, but showed no indication of wanting to go anywhere else. He ended up pouring his noodles into his soup and eating it like ramen, which according to Hinata was a trick he'd used when Ichiraku tried to change from ramen to tsukemen. The tsukemen was good, and Temari told them a lot of funny stories about hers, Kankuro's and Gaara's childhood there.

When they were all stuffed and couldn't eat any more, they paid and left before realising that they only had five minutes before rehearsals started again. Temari swore. "This isn't good guys, we'd better run. I know a few shortcuts."

"Is it that bad if we're a few minutes late?" asked Tenten as they ran, following Temari.

"Tsunade isn't exactly the most lenient of conductors," said Neji in explanation.

"Yeah she can be sooo mean!" whined Naruto. "Once she made me pack up all the music stands by myself just because I asked about her age."

"Dispute amongst the ranks?"

The six of them froze. They were standing in an alleyway that was completely deserted apart from them... and the people behind them. They turned around to face four people – three boys and a girl. They were big, and looked around 17, Temari's age. The first boy was absolutely huge and had a mohawk. The second had tanned skin and a black ponytail. The third boy had silvery hair which hung over most of his face and looked as though he were wearing green lipstick. The girl had long bright red hair. A shade that Tenten had seen before. Her eyes widened.

"We always knew that Tsunade Senju was a useless bitch, but we thought you Konoha kids loved her," said the boy with the ponytail. He reminded Tenten of spiders. She hated spiders.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?" said the girl in a mocking voice. "God, these Konoha brats sure are dumb."

"You're from the Sound village," said Neji. He glared at them, a glare Tenten had never seen before. Hinata gasped and stepped behind Tenten, terrified. None of them had forgotten what happened to Lee.

"Watch your tone, kid," said the big one, cracking his knuckles. "I think you lot need to be taught a lesson on how to respect your elders."

"I'm older than you, Jirobo," said Temari with a glare to rival Neji's. "Go away."

"Oooh, we're scared!" laughed the red-haired girl. "Age isn't everything, Tema-_chan_." She put emphasis on the honourific to mock her. Her expression hardened. "You're another useless bitch who needs to be taught a lesson."

Temari was unfazed. "Get out of here, Tayuya. You have no reason to be here in Suna."

"What makes you think that?" asked the silver-haired boy, speaking for the first time.

"Hey! Is it you lot who beat up Lee?" burst out Naruto, his fists still clenched. "Cause if it was -"

"It wasn't them, Naruto-kun," said Lee, not looking away from the four.

"You're too quick to judge," said the boy with the ponytail. "You should be nicer to people, Naruto-kun."

"Shut up!" growled Naruto.

"While this conversation is very interesting," said Neji in a deliberately polite voice. "We are in a hurry. Excuse us."

"Woah, not so fast," said Jirobo.

"Yeah, we don't like your attitude, kids. We think you need to be taught a lesson," said the boy with the ponytail.

"Kidomaru, there are six of us and four of you," said Temari.

"Are you really so sure about that?"

Two boys and a girl stepped into the alley from the street in front of them. All three of them had black hair and wore cow spot-patterned clothes. They were surrounded.

Hinata was even more terrified now and wouldn't stop shaking. Naruto was shaking too, but with anger and frustration. Neji and Temari were still both glaring, and Lee stared at the three new-comers.

"T-they're..." he pointed.

"Those are the three who beat you up?" asked Tenten. Lee nodded.

"What were you saying, Tema-chan?" asked Tayuya. Temari shot her a look of pure hatred. Tenten was overwhelmed. This went way beyond rivalry between two orchestras. This was like _war_.

They were trapped in an alleyway, all their friends were back at the hotel rehearsing and they were outnumbered. Tenten knew a little self-defense, but she guessed it wouldn't be enough. The Sound musicians were all bigger and older than her. Temari looked like the sort of tough girl who could handle herself in a fight, but they still had no hope. Tenten's heart was thumping fast, and she was scared. She almost cowered behind the others like Hinata, but forced herself to stay where she was.

"Don't worry, guys," said Naruto. "I'll handle this!"

"No, Naruto-kun!"

"Naruto, don't!"

"You idiot, get back here!"

But Naruto was running towards Jirobo, Tayuya, Kidomaru and the silver haired boy, fist raised. Jirobo stepped forward and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. "That all you got, brat?"

Naruto coughed and in seconds was back on his feet. Hinata closed her eyes and buried her face in Neji's shoulder. She couldn't watch. Naruto got sent flying backwards again. Lee jumped in to help him, but Jirobo was almost bigger than the two of them combined. Tenten looked around, no clue what to do. Should she try and help? Should she try and escape?

Temari leaped forward and kicked Jirobo in the face, but the second she hit the ground Tayuya was there, grabbing a fistful of her blonde hair. The three black-haired people on the other side then ran forward, straight at Hinata. Tenten shoved Hinata out of the way and ducked their blows. She had been out of practise for a while, and probably couldn't handle three opponents at once, but she couldn't leave Hinata to get hurt. The girl kicked her in the ribs and was about to punch her in the face when Neji grabbed her by the wrist and threw her to the ground. Kidomaru, however, stepped forward and grabbed Neji from behind. They were outnumbered against opponents who were all bigger and stronger than them. After a few painful minutes, all six of them were on the ground, bruised and in pain.

The Sound musicians formed a ring around them, laughing at them and mocking them. They had never stood a chance in the first place. Tenten's eyes widened as they began to draw knives. Knives? Were they some kind of gang? What kind of musician carried a _knife_ with them everywhere? Hinata was trembling uncontrollably. Even Tenten was shaking. For the first time ever, she feared for her life.

But the Sound musicians never got any closer. Jirobo jerked suddenly as though he had been hit on the head from behind and collapsed forward. Tenten shuffled backwards to avoid being crushed. Standing behind Jirobo, with no hint of his usual smile, was Deidara. And he wasn't alone.

_**I'm so very very very very sorry this chapter took a while. I had exams and a lack of imagination. I find that's what studying does to you. But anyway, exams are all over now, and I think that this chapter is a bit longer than usual. I know it's still pretty short, but it's not bad, right?**_

_**I love the Akatsuki. They are just so awesome. I'm kind of obsessed with them at the moment. The only Akatsuki members I really don't like are Itachi and Madara (although I love Tobi), but then again I've found that I hate all of the Uchihas so that's to be expected.**_

_**Thank you to people who have reviewed! I really appreciate it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :'(**_

_**You see that button down there? If you press it, good things will happen. Very good things. XD**_


	7. Akatsuki

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 7 - Akatsuki**

Deidara? Tenten couldn't believe it. What was he doing here? All his friends were behind him, she recognised them all from the orchestra. They also all wore matching T-shirts – black with a red cloud. There were ten of them in total, nine boys and one girl. Tenten had seen them all before, dotted around the orchestra, but she'd never spoken to any of them apart from Deidara, and didn't know any of their names. At breaktimes they all kept to themselves out in the hallway. And right now each of them had the most menacing, scary and overwhelming expression of hatred.

Tenten didn't think that the Sound musicians were the type to be intimidated by anyone, but Deidara and his friends proved her wrong. One of them, a boy with orange hair and piercings covering his face, stepped forward. Tenten recognised him as the lead double bassist of the orchestra.

"Leave now," he said calmly, in a very deep voice. "Or we will have a problem."

He spoke to the boy with the silver hair. They were around the same height, but the orange-haired boy still seemed to tower over him. He had a powerful look about him, and the piercings only emphasised that.

"Sakon," whispered Tayuya to the silver-haired boy. "Let's get out of-"

"Not likely," spat Sakon, gathering his courage. "I don't see why we should go running from you, _Pein_."

Pein said nothing, but continued to fix Sakon with his stare. It looked as though they were going to stand there forever, looking at each other. Then, so fast that Tenten's eyes could barely follow it, Pein sunk his fist deep into Sakon's stomach. Sakon gasped and fell backwards, doubled over in pain. His knife clattered to the ground.

"Hey -" said Tayuya, running forward, only to be grabbed by the girl with the paper flower in her hair and thrown to the ground. All this happened in the space of about two seconds. The rest of Deidara's friends glared menacingly until the Sound musicians all left the alleyway. Sakon was the last to go, fixing Pein with a look so full of spite and hatred that Tenten shuddered.

As soon as Sakon left, Deidara's expression melted into his usual smile. He reached down to help Tenten to her feet as though nothing had happened.

"Deidara, wh... how...?" Tenten stuttered, completely bewildered.

"I couldn't get the bowing pattern in "Hall of the Mountain King" right," he replied, letting go of her hand and helping Hinata up. "And I was going to ask you for help but you weren't there. So I decided to come find you. I guessed that the chances were you ran into some trouble with the Sounds, so we all came to sort them out."

"Thanks," said Tenten warmly. She put her hand to her ribs. They still really hurt from where she'd been kicked. She looked around, expecting the others to be thanking Deidara and his friends as well, but they didn't. As soon as Hinata was on her feet she took a step away from him and wouldn't meet his eyes. No one would. Deidara's friends and Tenten's friends were all avoiding each other.

"Are you all right?" Neji asked her, drawing her subtly away from Deidara. He himself had a limp, and a bruise on his cheek. His pale eyes which were deliberately avoiding the blond boy behind her were full of concern.

"Fine, mostly. My ribs hurt," she replied, still looking between themselves and Deidara's friends. What was going on?

"We'd best be getting back," said Deidara. "We all just got up and left, Tsunade's gonna be mad at us."

"She won't be mad when we just tell her what happened," said Tenten. "Even she will see that it wasn't our fault."

"Tsunade will not be told anything," said Pein, not looking at her. It was the first time he'd spoken since his interaction with Sakon.

"Why no-"

"It wouldn't just get the Sounds into trouble, but us as well," said Deidara. "We've been warned about a million times to stop fighting. Once more and we may be chucked out of the orchestra. And besides, we aren't primary school kids. We don't tell tales."

"But -"

"No. Tsunade can't be told anything. The same with the other tutors. Someone asks about your injuries, you all fell off that giant wall or whatever."

Deidara and his friends took the lead, walking back to the hotel. Temari, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Lee and Neji followed. Hinata was supporting Temari, who had been beaten by both Tayuya and Sakon and was sporting a lot of bruises. Naruto was worse, because he had been the first to start fighting and the last to finish. Tenten wondered where all that endurance came from. Tenten herself was supporting Neji. He had one arm over her shoulder because he had trouble walking by himself. He looked down at her gratefully and she felt warmth spread across her cheeks.

When they arrived at the hotel, Tsunade, as expected, was not happy. Not happy at all. Tenten didn't think it was possible for anyone to be able make more noise than Naruto, but the conductor's lungs were impressive. She berated each of the sixteen of them, and ordered them all do the clearing up after the rehearsals finished. When she had calmed down, she did ask where Temari, Hinata, Tenten, Naruto, Lee and Neji's injuries had come from, and they explained that they had stupidly tried to climb the stone wall surrounding the village and had fallen onto one of the buildings. Tenten wondered why the others posed no objection to lying to defend Deidara and his friends when they wouldn't even meet their eyes, let alone speak to them. In the end, they were allowed to sit down and play, and Tenten was relieved.

At break time, Deidara and his group went out to the hallway as usual. Tenten put down her violin and raced over to join her friends, determined to have her question answered.

"What is up with you and Deidara and his friends?" she asked in a low voice. "I mean, you -"

"They're Akatsuki, Tenten," said Naruto, unusually serious.

"Akatsuki?"

"It's the name of their gang," said Neji.

"They're bad news," said Temari, joining them. "It's best to stay away from them."

"But they saved us!"

Temari shrugged. "We share a common enemy. They didn't do it because they care about us. They did it because they hate the Sounds. To have Konoha people beaten by Sound people hurts their pride."

"But I sit next to Deidara, he's really nice," Tenten protested. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Who are they all anyway?"

"Well you know Deidara," explained Temari. "And then there's Pein, he's like their leader. He plays the double bass. Konan is the girl; I think she and Pein are going out, but we're not sure. She's the lead flutist, and sits next to Sakura. Zetsu is the one with the creepy gold eyes. He's really weird, he has two personalities. He plays the french horn like me, and I have to tell you it can be seriously disturbing listening to him argue with himself. Tobi is the one who wears that ridiculous orange mask. He may look and act like an idiot but everyone who has underestimated him regrets it. You've probably seen him banging on the percussion at the back with Kisame. Kisame is the one with the greyish skin, Itachi is the one with the long black hair who plays the clarinet and is Sasuke's big brother, Hidan is the one with the silver hair and the purple eyes. He's a complete lunatic, I think he's part of some weird cult. Anyway, he's the cor anglais player. Kakuzu is the one with the black hair and green eyes; he's completely obsessed with money – he'll do anything for it. That's why he started playing the bassoon, I think. And then Sasori is the one with the red hair and the brown eyes. He's a distant relative of mine, he's also originally from Suna. He and Kankuro both play the saxophone."

"Why is it best to stay away from them, though? They have no reason to hurt us," said Tenten. She had been sitting next to Deidara all this time and thought of him as a friend. He was really nice, and he and his gang _had_ saved them. She didn't want to think about what would've happened if they hadn't appeared.

"Most of them are crazy," said Naruto. "And they're really dangerous."

"You can't help sitting next to Deidara, Tenten-san," said Lee. "But still, be careful."

Tenten still couldn't believe it, but let the matter drop. "Anyway, how come you and the Sound people knew each other, Temari?"

"Just call them the Sounds, that's what the rest of us do. And I know them because we see them every year, and I've been part of this orchestra for a long time. That and Tayuya used to be my best friend."

"What?" exclaimed Naruto. This was news to the others as well. "You and _her_?"

"People change," said Temari. "Besides, that was years and years ago. She moved temporarily to Suna and we became friends. She moved away again, then the next time I saw her she was like she is now."

"That must be difficult," Hinata spoke up. "Having your best friend change like that."

Temari shrugged. "I got over it. I've got new friends now, who are much better."

The mention of Tayuya reminded Tenten of something else she'd been meaning to say. "Hey, listen," said Tenten hesitantly, lowering her voice. "I think Tayuya set the hotel at the resort on fire."

"What?" exclaimed Naruto very loudly.

"What makes you think that?" asked Neji in a much softer voice.

"Well it was after we escaped from the fire... when we were outside, I'm pretty sure I saw her and that girl with the black hair."

"Tayuya and Kin were at the resort?" asked Temari. "This is news to me!"

"Well we know that Kin was in the village at the time," said Neji. "After all, she and her two friends attacked Lee when he went out to get some food."

"Wait a minute... so Tayuya, Dosu, Zaku and Kin have been following us?" said Temari.

"At least them. After all, Sakon, Kidomaru and Jirobo managed to find us in Suna as well. I find it hard to believe they ran into us by accident. Maybe all of them have been following us all this time," said Neji.

"W-would they really set the hotel on fire?" asked Hinata.

"They would! They're pure evil!" said Naruto.

"I don't think they were aiming to hurt anybody," said Tenten thoughtfully. "I think they were after the instruments. I overheard the percussionists saying that it was lucky they'd moved all their equipment out of the room. All the instruments would have been there if we hadn't brought them back to our rooms earlier as well."

"That's true," said Neji. "After all, if their aim is to win against us in the festival if they ruin our instruments then we can't compete."

"The Sounds have never been lovely," said Temari. "But they've never gone this far before. It must be that new conductor of theirs, Orochimaru. Oh yeah, I heard the other day that Orochimaru used to be one of the Akatsuki."

"One of the Akatsuki? But isn't he too old?" asked Tenten. "I thought the Akatsuki were all teenagers."

"It was a few years back and at the time he pretended to be younger than he was. Apparently he doesn't look his age at all. Anyway, he left them and moved to the Sound Village, and then just a few months back he became conductor of their orchestra."

"So that's why the Akatsuki joined, Temari-san?" asked Lee.

"Yeah, they really don't like it when someone leaves Akatsuki," she said. "So I guess they joined this orchestra so that they could get their own back at the Sound village. Except this year they're against Orochimaru himself. No wonder they were so quick to come to our aid today. There was a small chance they would face him."

"Breaktime's over!" Tsunade had come back into the room. "Hall of the Mountain King! And this time use your heads and only speed up when you're supposed to!"

Tenten went back to her seat, brimming with thoughts. She had been given a lot to think about now. Deidara was the member of a gang... they wanted revenge against the conductor of the Sound orchestra... the "Sounds" were willing to do anything to win at the festival. How much more interesting would this trip get?

After playing through "Hall of the Mountain King" enough times for everyone to do the change in speed right, Tsunade released them all for the day. As most of the musicians left the room, the Akatsuki, Tenten, Lee, Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Temari stayed behind to clear up. Tenten ended up stacking the violin section's chairs alongside Deidara.

"Hey..."said Tenten, not sure exactly what to say. "Why did you come help us today?"

Deidara blinked. "I told you. The bowing pattern in -"

"Not you personally, your whole ga... I mean, your whole group," she said, not looking at him but focusing very hard on the chairs she was stacking as though it were a job which required maximum concentration.

He laughed. "_That's _what this is about? I thought you were a bit preoccupied earlier while we were playing. And you can call us a gang, it's what we are."

Tenten wondered how on earth he was able to say that with such a smile on his face. The word _gang _brought images of skin-headed thugs with scowls and cigarettes and knives into her mind. Nothing like Deidara. Yet he wasn't even denying it.

"Anyway, we went looking for you 'cause we guessed the Sounds might have been involved and we don't like them much," Deidara continued. "That and the fact that you're the only violinist who can get that wretched bowing pattern right."

"If you hate them so much then why did you just let them go?" asked Tenten curiously.

"You mean as opposed to giving them a beating? That would just be a waste of energy. The whole point is to give them a message. All ten of us simply turning up sends a message by itself, no need for any violence. After all you saw how terrified they were of us."

Tenten fell silent, digesting these words. So they hadn't handled it all fairly peacefully because they were especially peaceful by nature, but simply because they couldn't be bothered. She didn't really want to think what the Akatsuki did in the past to instill such fear in the Sound musicians that they could send them running in a few seconds.

"Why didn't the others argue about telling Tsunade?" she asked. "I expected them to..."

"They're probably afraid of us beating them up," Deidara replied happily, folding up a music stand.

Tenten stopped. "You would actually do that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. No one's ever told on us before."

"Never?"

"Pein has that effect on most people," he said. "Even Kiba is scared of him, and they've been sitting next to each other for about three years."

Tenten shook her head. "You're really weird."

"Why thank you," said Deidara with a grin. "Now excuse me, since we're done here, I'm going to go blow something up. See ya!"

He left the room, the rest of the Akatsuki leaving at the same time. Tenten watched him go, wondering whether he was serious or not. It was still hard to believe that he was a member of a _gang_. Although, Tenten recalled when he had appeared in that alleyway to send the Sounds running. He had seemed like a completely different person then. Was the smiling exterior just a front to hide the cruel, menacing person inside? It was hard to believe. And despite everything, he was really nice to her. Would he be so nice if she were a member of the Sound Orchestra? She didn't really want to think about that.

She rejoined her friends, who were just about done their jobs as well. Naruto and Lee seemed to be arguing with Neji.

"Come on!" said Naruto. "We can't let them get away with it! We should go kick their -"

"No," said Neji firmly. "If we go looking for trouble we'll only be making things worse."

"I'm afraid I must agree with Naruto-kun here," said Lee. "They have done an unforgivable thing and must not get away with it."

"Like Hyuuga said," said Temari, joining in. "It will only make things worse."

"How can you say that?" exclaimed Naruto, getting even more worked up. "They set fire to that hotel. Look at Hinata's arm!"

"They entered an unfair fight against us," said Lee. "And they even hit girls!"

"You trying to be sexist?" asked Temari, towering over Lee. "I could handle you in a fight any day."

"Guys, stop fighting," said Tenten. Hinata gave her a grateful look. "Look, I'm mad about what happened today as well, but even if we did go looking for revenge we'd only end up getting beaten again."

"Not if the Akatsuki help us!" said Naruto. "Tenten, Deidara likes you, if you ask hi-"

"We are not asking the Akatsuki for help," said Neji.

"Besides, they wouldn't help us even if we asked," said Temari.

"Deidara -"

"- is not the leader," Neji finished for Naruto. "Pein makes the decisions."

"But who knows what they'll do next! We need to strike back!"

"The festival is soon," said Tenten. "They'll stop after the competition is over. After all, isn't winning their ultimate goal?"

The others nodded.

"I see what you mean, Tenten-san," said Lee slowly. "But just what will they do next?"

"You never know with the Sounds," said Temari ominously. "Be ready for anything."

_**Why did I have the Akatsuki save the day? Because they're awesome. And also I don't like doing the whole cheesy guy-swoops-in-to-save-the-girl thing. Sorry if that's the sort of thing you like, but I try to be as original as possible, and I'm afraid that I will not have chapters and chapters of Tenten getting in trouble and Neji saving her.**_

_**Just to make it clear, this fanfiction is **_**not ****_ turning into a DeiTen (is that even a pairing?) fic. It's not forbidden love, it's forbidden friendship. Don't worry, the main pairing is and always will be NejiTen._**

_**Speaking of other pairings, should I include others? I'm thinking of putting some NaruHina in it, I think that pairing is really sweet. If you agree or disagree with this there is a button down there you can use to let me know ^^**_

_**Also, if there are any other pairings you want, just review and tell me. I'm more or less flexible with pairings. More or less.**_

_**Disclaimer: The Konoha Youth Orchestra belongs to me, as does Tenten's mother, the only OC in this story. The rest doesn't.**_

_**Thank you for the reviews!**_


	8. Rescue Mission

_**Summary: Tenten, a talented young violinist, moves to Konoha and joins their Youth Orchestra. There she meets new friends and enemies... and Neji Hyuuga.**_

**Chapter 8 – Rescue Mission**

The following week was deadly. The Sounds seemed absolutely and utterly determined to do anything in order to win the competition. Strangely enough, actually practising music didn't seem to cross their minds. They were everywhere in every town the Konoha group went, causing trouble. It was not uncommon to see musicians sporting black eyes or burst lips in rehearsals, and soon, people took to leaving the rehearsal buildings in large groups, if, indeed, they left at all. Outside of rehearsal time, the Akatsuki were nowhere to be seen. Temari insisted that they were out looking for Orochimaru, but that they had to be very discreet. Apparently, they were on their last warning, and the only reason Tsunade hadn't kicked them out of the orchestra already was their musical talent. She wanted to win every bit as much as Orochimaru.

Then, one day, the Akatsuki never came back after lunch break. This made everyone extremely nervous. While most within the Konoha Youth Orchestra were afraid of the gang, everyone had felt a bit more assured with them around. Their hatred of the Sounds was no secret, so while no one dared to actually speak to them, they still felt protected by them somewhat. Given the fact that while many had injuries, they were not overly serious, Tenten suspected that the Akatsuki had made a few rescues similar to her own. People were also nervous because if the Sounds had managed somehow to make the _Akatsuki_ disappear, what chance did any of the rest of them have against them? No one ventured outside the rehearsal buildings at all after the gang's disappearance. To leave would be absolute madness, and staying indoors became an unspoken rule amongst the musicians.

Tenten often found herself glancing to her left automatically in rehearsals, only to see an empty seat. She was genuinely worried about Deidara. She missed his easy smile and all his jokes. She was scared that he was hurt somewhere outside, but smart enough not to go out in search of him. Even if she was able to find him, what on earth could she do to help him?

The tutors had gone out to look for the missing instrumentalists, of course, but they hadn't been found. Since they were all 17, the orchestra was not legally responsible for them, and Tsunade decided that they were "typically up to no good" and abandoned them. Losing ten of the best musicians in the orchestra was not good, however, so she was driving them extra hard in rehearsals. On top of that, many had lost heart and weren't trying properly, so the orchestra's music was not of the finest quality.

"Do you get this every year?" asked Tenten, collapsing onto her bed on evening. "I don't think I'd be able to cope."

"It's not usually this bad," said Neji, reaching for the remote and flicking through channels on the TV. "But it's usually something like this."

They were all gathered in Tenten and Hinata's bedroom, the place where they spent most of their time now, since they no longer dared go outside. They were still recovering from their encounter with the Sounds, and Tenten was reminded every minute by the ache in her ribs just how dangerous their enemies were.

"As long as we stay inside, we'll be fine for now," said Temari, lounging on Hinata's bed. "Watch out on the day of the competition, though. Especially you, Tenten."

Tenten nodded. Since the number of players in the orchestra had decreased, Tsunade decided that in order to make up for this, the best piece to play at the festival was the Danse Macabre – the piece composed for orchestra and solo violin. Tenten was under a lot of pressure. Although she had played Danse Macabre before and knew it fairly well, it felt like everyone was pinning their hopes on her. It wouldn't be enough to be good. She had to be _brilliant_. Her new desk partner wasn't helping much. When it became clear that Deidara wasn't coming back, Karin had moved up to sit in his seat. She didn't pay much attention to Tenten, but spent most of her time staring over at Sasuke. She was quite good at the violin, but she was too easily distracted by her crush to play properly.

"Have no fear, Tenten-san!" said Lee, springing up from his chair. "We shall protect you!"

"Thanks, Lee," said Tenten, now more or less used to Lee's unique nature.

"I still say we should go out there and teach them Sounds a lesson for what they did to us," said Naruto, who was cleaning his trombone. "There's no way I'm letting them get away like that."

"Are you nuts?" said Temari bluntly. "If you want to go outside and get yourself half killed then fine. Go. I can't believe you're such an idiot that you actually want to leave here after what happened last time."

"We only got away in relatively good condition last time because of the Akatsuki," Neji put in. "With them gone now..."

"I know, I know," said Naruto sulkily.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," said Tenten in an effort to cheer him up. "We _will_ get revenge. We'll get revenge by hitting them where it hurts them the most."

Everyone looked at her in surprise. She grinned. "Why are they doing all this? They're trying to win this competition. So what could hurt them more than if we won anyway?"

Hinata gave her a radiant smile while Lee jumped to his feet once more. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Your logic is truly amazing, Tenten-san!"

Temari grinned, and Naruto went back to cleaning his trombone with a bit more enthusiasm than before. Neji gave a knowing smile as he continued to go through the channels on the TV.

...

The next day, Tenten struggled through the tough morning rehearsal, playing the Danse Macabre to the best of her ability. It was all very well what she'd said the night before, but could they actually win this? It depended on how good the Sound orchestra was. Surely, though, their opposition was no challenge at all, since they seemed to have taken to following the Konoha group around, and getting into fights instead of practising. But she had no way of knowing. When she asked the others, they told her that every year when the Sounds performed, they _did_ sound good – very good. Apparently in the Sound village, children began playing instruments at a very young age.

By lunch time, Tenten's arms were so tired from playing she could barely lift them. She got a drink from the water fountain and left the room to stand over by the main door in order to get some fresh air. While she was there, however she saw something shocking. Someone was leaving the hotel alone and going outside. And it wasn't just anyone. It was Temari.

Tenten didn't stop to think. She opened the door and sprinted to catch up. "Temari! Where are you going? After all you said last night to Naruto..." She stopped to catch her breath.

Temari's eyes widened. "Tenten...? Look, go back. It's dangerous out here. Go back now."

"I will if you will," said Tenten, meeting her gaze. "Where are you going?"

A hint of red found its way to Temari's cheeks and she looked away. "There's... something I have to do, all right?"

"The Sounds are everywhere! Are you crazy?"

"Look, just leave me alone and go back to the hotel! I'll be fine!"

Temari carried on walking forward with an air of determination, and Tenten had to jog a little to keep up. "Look, please just tell me where you're going!"

Temari said nothing and kept walking. The arrived at the end of the street, and turned right. She was looking around as though searching for something. Tenten shivered. Although it was a simple street, she felt as though she were walking through a labyrinth full of monsters ready to attack at any time...

Then, they both heard a shout. They couldn't make out what was being said, but it was a voice Tenten vaguely recognised. Temari broke into a sprint, running towards the source of the noise. Tenten did her best to keep up, wondering what on earth was going on. She had an uneasy feeling, and kept remembering the time in Suna when they had been cornered in an alleyway.

Soon they reached a small side street. It was practically deserted, apart from two people, both of whom Tenten recognised. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the long red hair of the tall figure standing furthest away from them. It was Tayuya.

The other one Tenten knew by face but she didn't know his name. He was one of the Clarinet players of the orchestra and was possibly the laziest boy Tenten had ever seen. He had spiky black hair worn into a ponytail, and pierced ears. What on earth was he doing out here?

Tayuya and the boy both looked up in surprise as Temari and Tenten arrived.

"Shikamaru! Are you all right?" Temari was instantly at the boy's side.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Never mind me, go find Neji. He's -"

Tenten heard another shout. She recognised it, but it wasn't Neji's. At the mention of his name, however, she quickly turned back and followed the sound. Was Neji in trouble? Why was he out here with Shikamaru?

There was another side street parallel to the other, this time occupied by three people. One was Neji, the second was the one who had shouted, Sasuke, and the third was Kidomaru. The sight of the spider-like Sound musician made Tenten's blood run cold. Luckily he seemed to be alone, but the mere sight of him was still terrifying. It didn't help that she suddenly remembered that there were no Akatsuki to save her this time.

Neji and Sasuke were taken aback by her sudden arrival and turned to face her, but Tenten's eyes were still on Kidomaru. Then, suddenly, the knife in his hand went flying.

She didn't have time to think. Powered by adrenaline, she jumped forward, grabbed Neji by the shoulders and pulled him down to the ground. The knife struck the wall behind where his head had been a second ago, and fell to the ground. Heart racing, Tenten stared at the knife, and where it had hit the wall. Neji was doing the same.

"You just..."

Tenten was speechless. She had just saved Neji's life. If she hadn't pulled him out of the way... A sick feeling entered her stomach. Kidomaru had almost killed him. _Killed_ him. Had that really just happened? The nature of their situation hit her like a rock. He was ready to kill. Had he already taken lives? Had Tenten just saved Neji from a murderer?

Kidomaru's face held no expression. Sasuke was staring at Neji and Tenten. Everything was frozen and unmoving. Tenten's heart was still beating away faster than ever. She was still on the ground with Neji, staring at the knife. She had just saved a boy's life. No matter how many times she said it in her mind over and over again, it didn't seem real at all. Had that really happened? Was it really possible that Neji had almost _died_. The idea was alien and shocking, and it made all of her limbs freeze up. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. She couldn't even imagine how Neji was feeling. What was it like to be so close to having your life snatched away?

Then, suddenly, Temari approached at a run from the other side of the street. Kidomaru didn't have time to react before she took a running jump and kicked him square in the face. He fell to the ground hard, and before he had time to sit up again, Temari was standing over him, one boot on his upper back, forcing him to stay down.

Shikamaru appeared behind her, nursing his hand as though one of his fingers was hurting. He spoke, to Tenten's surprise, to Sasuke. "Come back with us."

Sasuke stared at him, his expression unreadable. Tenten and Neji stood up again, and Neji picked up the knife that had almost killed him. Temari reached down, grabbed Kidomaru by the ponytail, and smashed his head to the ground, knocking him out. Tenten winced at the thud as his forehead connected with the pavement. She approached Sasuke. "You're coming back with us, Uchiha," she said in a dangerous tone. "Or am I going to have to force you to and drag you back? You know I'll do it."

Sasuke looked around him. Slowly, sulkily, he muttered the word, "fine" and walked away, in the direction of the hotel.

Temari, Shikamaru, Tenten and Neji followed. "What... just happened?" asked Tenten.

"You don't know? You came all the way out here for no reason?" asked Shikamaru in an incredulous tone. "Are you suicidal?"

"Shut it, Nara," said Temari. "If anyone's suicidal it's you. What were you thinking, coming out here alone? You're lucky Neji spotted you and left a message for me. Even if you did manage to get past Tayuya and Kidomaru, do you really think you would be able to convince that emo over there to come back with you?" Tenten noticed that she was now calling Shikamaru by his surname.

"What's up with Sasuke?" she asked, feeling like an idiot.

"He wanted to leave the orchestra and join the Sounds," said Neji.

"_What?_"

"Sasuke wants to win the competition now that his brother's no longer competing," said Temari.

"You mean he wants to win for his brother?"

Temari shook her head. "He wants to win something his brother can't. By winning the competition when Itachi doesn't, that's as though he is beating his brother. They don't really get along, you see, and Sasuke wants to beat Itachi."

"But if his brother isn't competing then surely that doesn't count as beating him."

"Each member of the winning orchestra gets a certificate. If Sasuke gets a certificate this year and Itachi doesn't, then he considers himself to have beaten him," said Shikamaru. "Stupid, really, but there you go."

"But Itachi can't help not competing," said Tenten.

"A lot of people consider escaping the wrath of the Sounds part of the competition itself," said Temari. "So, in Sasuke's eyes, Itachi has already lost by getting done in by the Sounds."

"So... why was he trying to join them?" asked Tenten, trying to piece this all together.

"Because he thinks they're going to win this year," said Neji.

"So... why not just let him join them? I mean I understand that it would be bad for us to lose another musician, but surely it's his choice."

"I don't like Sasuke," said Shikamaru. "But he is one of us. He's a part of the Konoha Youth Orchestra, so even though it's troublesome, we're not letting him go that easily."

"But... he's just going to try and leave again," said Tenten.

"That he will," said Temari. "Which is why we'll be keeping an eye on him."

...

_**Short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry**_

_**YES, I'M ALIVE!**_

_**I was on holiday in Denmark, that's why I haven't updated in a while.**_

_**I may be putting a bit of ShikaTema in later... I hope you don't mind. If you do mind, let me know. Anyway, there won't be much of other pairings in this. **_

_**What happened to the Akatsuki? Another thing for you to ponder ^^ I thought that danger in the story wouldn't be scary enough if the Akatsuki were always around to rescue people. So something mysterious has happened to them. Are they dead? Captured? Injured? Did they simply lose interest in the whole thing? I'd like to hear your theories!**_

_**By the way, I try to proof read the chapters well and pick out any mistakes, but I can't get them all so if you spot any, please point them out?**_

_**Flames are welcome. If my story deserves to be flamed, then it will be.**_

_**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns the characters, the emo hatred between Sasuke and Itachi, Temari's badass fighting skills, and Shikamaru's broken finger**_

_**Reviews are much appreciated! **_


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